50 Observations on a remarkable Cromlech 8fc. [No. 81 



no other canopy than the skies ; whence we trace its exist- 

 ence, debased and perverted amongst the descendants of the 



sons of Noah. 



It is worthy of remark, that one of the gods of the ancient 

 Gauls was called Belisama, a name reminding us of the Belu 



of the Assyrians. 



Numerous Druidical monuments (elsewhere described) 

 have been found by me on the Neilgherries ; and I think 

 I have adduced sufficient evidence to the fact of Scythicism 

 being the religion of the Thautawars, the inhabitants of those 

 Hills. The Thautawars may have been the aborigines of the 

 plains of India, driven before the Hindoos to the mountain, 

 at their invasion of the Peninsula. The cave temples of In- 

 dia, I conjecture, were originally temples of Druidism or 

 Scythicism, subsequently made to subserve the purposes of 

 Hindooism, by the priests of that order who ornamented them 

 with effigies of their gods. 



The discovery of the Cromlech at Pullicondah, and of other 

 Druidical monuments in our presidency, affords a new scope 

 for the research of our antiquaries, possibly more interesting 

 than that, which has usually occupied attention. 



I venture to offer a surmise respecting the method where- 

 by the huge stones of the Cromlech, were raised into their 

 present position. 



A mound of earth was probably first heaped together, the 

 slab of the ara then pulled on rollers up its slope, the up- 

 right supporting stones were subsequently placed round the 

 mound, their flat sides leaning against it. The earth was 

 then scraped away from the top of the mound until the slab 

 descending rested on the tops of the supporters, thus "lock- 

 ing" them in their places. This being achieved, the mound 

 was wholly removed, leaving the Cromlech standing without 

 any extraneous support, 



